Once Upon A December
by TheHollowMoon
Summary: When Elsa was a little girl, she had a friend who no-one else could see. Several long years later, she begins to reminisce about him. She remembers a promise he had made her all those winters ago: a promise that he'd come and see her again.


She tried to tell herself it had been a dream, but her heart knew it was a memory.

Elsa told herself over and over that it was a childish fantasy; that out of her loneliness, she had created him. He was only a figment of her imagination. When children have no-one else to relate to, when they feel all alone in the world, they sometimes invent people that they can connect with. Elsa had nobody to feel properly connected with when she was younger – she had only ever heard of other young princesses with magical powers from fairy tales. And she knew fairy tales weren't real.

She stood in her castle of ice, on the crystalline balcony. She stared up at the full moon, which seemed to shine brighter with all the stars twinkling with it. Like a spray of glitter surrounding a pearl. The air was cold, as it usually was in early spring. She hadn't thought about her childhood friend in years, not since her parent's untimely passing. Elsa had decided that she needed to grow up and that she did not live in a fairy tale, powers or not. And besides, even in the most impossible case that he actually did exist...

...he had abandoned her.

Elsa's memories of him had become vague over the years, but she still remembered the joy he had brought her as a child. The day they first met – the day she came up with him, she meant – had probably been one of the happiest of her childhood memories.

 _She had only been 9 when he appeared. It was during the winter, when it had been snowing throughout the night, and the stormy blizzard had kept her up. She wanted it to stop – snow had only ever brought trouble. Elsa hadn't wanted to stay awake. She wanted to go to sleep! But the blizzard reminded her of her curse. It was almost as if the weather was making fun of her, and she didn't like it one bit. A horribly loud thundering accompanied the storm, and she wondered how anyone alive could sleep through it._

 _Elsa began to get upset by this. She noticed with fright that her room had once again started snowing on the inside."Stop it, stop it, stop it!" she whispered to herself, her small hands curling into fists at her sides. She backed against the door, and chanted those two words over and over again._

 _But that just made the snow thicken. She panicked, afraid that she might end up making a storm of her own in her very room! "Stop it!" She hissed, tightly shutting her eyes and pressing her hands on her temples. Ice began to creep like ivy around the room, turning everything cold. She looked around her room, helpless, as it grew colder and colder._

 _Defeated, she slumped and slid down onto the floor of her room, curled up into a ball and began to cry._

" _Please don't cry," she heard someone whisper, gently._

 _Shocked, she looked up and looked around the room, yet she saw nobody. But then she noticed a pattern appearing on the windows. Curious, Elsa got to her feet and scampered over to it. Intricate trails of ice spread over the glass like a butterfly opening up its wings. It was made up of snowflakes connecting together in a web of swirls. Gingerly, Elsa touched the glass, wondering if she was making it do that. The pattern seemed to be on the outside of the window, however. Whatever it was, it was pretty. It temporarily brought a smile to her face as she watched it magically continued to fan out over the cold glass._

 _A gasp of surprise escaped her as a mark appeared in the pattern and created a small line in it. To Elsa, it looked like an invisible person was drawing a picture in the ice with the tip of their finger. The picture they drew was a snowflake, which then peeled off the glass and into Elsa's bedroom, where it proceeded to dance over her head to a curious rhythm she couldn't hear. She turned back to the glass, and the invisible person then drew two circles, one smaller circle on top of the other. It turned out as a smiling snowman, which peeled off the glass like the snowflake had done, and danced around Elsa's head as well. She giggled, and reached out to try and grab it, but it was out of her reach._

" _Maybe I can do that, too!" She said, and the snowman nodded to her, as if it was telling her to try._

 _Eagerly, Elsa turned to the window, and carefully blanketed her side with ice. Then, with her finger, she drew a crescent moon to match the one in the sky. With all her might, she imagined it peeling off the glass and dancing with the others. But no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't budge. She covered it in ice again, and repeated. She still didn't have any luck. She slumped her shoulders and looked sadly at the moon she drew as the snowflake and snowman settled on both of her little shoulders._

" _Let me show you how to do it."_

 _Surprised, Elsa whipped around quickly to see where the voice had come from. And in her room, standing a few feet behind her was a boy._

 _He was quite a bit taller than her, with hair as white as snow and skin not very darker. His eyes were bright blue, and they sparked with friendly amusement. He leaned on a long wooden staff (taller than him) with a big hooked end, and wore a midnight blue hoodie decorated with twinkling snowflakes around his neckline, sleeves and pockets. He had brown trousers on which ended a few inches above his ankles. She saw that his feet were bare, and upon noticing that she realised with a start that the boy was in fact floating._

 _He sank down to the floor and stepped towards her, before getting down on one knee in front of the window. "Watch this," he smiled at her. Then, putting his staff to the side, he made a small grabbing motion at the picture she drew. Like the others, it peeled off, and he waved at it. The little moon floated over to Elsa and danced in a funny fashion, the other two figures joining it._

" _Wow..." Elsa mumbled happily, slowly reaching out and taking hold of the moon, and watched as it crawled around on her hand like a little dragonfly. She looked at the boy, who was also smiling. "How did you do that?" She asked, full of wonder._

 _The boy shrugged as if it were nothing special, "Magic." He replied simply._

 _She looked at him, more dubious now, "What's your name?"_

 _He grinned, "Jack Frost. And yours?" Though Elsa suspected he already knew._

" _I'm Princess Elsa of Arendelle."_

 _He got up and bowed dramatically, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Elsa." She couldn't help but blush a little, as she curtsied, saying "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Jack Frost. How did you get here, by the way?"_

 _He shrugged again as he picked up the staff, "Magic." He said again._

" _No, really." She tried to sound like a serious princess, but it wasn't really working._

" _Really. I wouldn't lie to a princess." He leaned against the wall of her room._

 _It had stopped snowing inside, but the weather outside was still dark and cold and loud. She'd hated the thunder; it always scared her. One particular clap of thunder had made her jump away from the window, closer to Jack._

" _Hey, it's okay," he said gently, taking hold of Elsa's shoulder to reassure her, "it's only thunder. It can't hurt you in here."_

 _She turned to him, still rather unconvinced. "But what if it can? What if I cause a storm in here?"_

" _I won't let that happen. I won't let the storm get you, okay?" She still felt scared, but that light cheerfulness in his eyes helped settle her. "Can you do this, Elsa?" he kneeled down, so he was at the same height as her, and held out his other hand._

 _The staff balanced on his shoulder as a sparkling snowflake as big as Elsa's hand appeared out of his palm. No longer facing the storm, Elsa said, "Of course!" and produced a series of snowflakes from both hands (admittedly showing off a little). He collected the floating snowflakes in his hand, and asked, "What about this?" and threw it up in the air._

 _The snowflakes hit the ceiling, and white clouds erupted from it. Glistening snowflakes fell from the clouds and all around the room. Fascinated, Elsa ran across the room with her arms outstretched, trying to catch as much snow as she could._

 _He got up and watched her play in the snow he had made. Elsa turned to him and asked, "Do you know anyone else who can do this? You know...magic?"_

 _Jack leaned on his staff, "Actually, you're the only other person I know who can do this besides me." He smiled sadly, looking to the floor._

" _How did you find me, then?" Elsa asked, curious._

 _He shrugged once more, "The moon told me."_

 _Then he looked back to her, sadness gone, "Well, that doesn't really matter much anymore, does it, Princess?" By now the floor was covered in a light sheet of snow, so he snapped his fingers and the clouds on the ceiling disappeared. Jack crouched down next to Elsa, with mischief in his eyes. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"_

 _Suddenly, she remembered Anna. She remembered what happened to her when she asked that very same question. Elsa didn't want to hurt Jack, as he stood there completely unaware. "No," she turned away. She didn't want to play anymore._

" _Why not? Don't you like snowmen?"_

" _No..." She could feel the snow coming back again. But not the good snow._

" _Okay, do you want to build something else - ?"_

" _No!" She backed away from Jack slightly. "My magic never did any good. I can't use it for fun; otherwise I might hurt people..." She began to cry again, and hated herself for it. Whenever she laughed too much or cried too much, her powers became much harder to control. But she couldn't help it._

" _Hey, there, there..." Jack took her delicate hands in his, and held them. "It's okay, Elsa. Please don't cry."_

" _But it isn't okay," she argued, "The magic isn't good! It hurt Anna, and I think it's getting stronger..."_

" _Elsa," he spoke softly, making her look up at him. He looked at her kindly, as he continued, "I can help you, if you want me to. I can teach you how to control your powers, to use them, without hurting anybody. I'll make sure nothing bad happens, okay?" He smiled gently._

 _She sniffled, "Promise?"_

 _He held out his other hand, uncurling his pinkie finger, "Pinkie promise."_

 _She wrapped her pinkie finger around his, and managed a smile back, "Okay."_

" _There we go," he laughed, "Now, why don't I teach you that trick on the window?"_

Elsa still remembered how to do that trick. Delicately making a sheet of ice over the wall, Elsa drew the same crescent moon that she had when she was younger, and made a beckoning motion with her hand. Soon enough, the moon peeled off the icy wall and floated nonchalantly in front of her. The memory brought a smile to her face, as she blew the moon, and watched it float away into the night and dissolve like a bubble.

It was funny how certain memories stick with you for the rest of your life. How quirky little parts of your life stay with you forever. As Elsa watched the dissolving remains of the little moon, she continued to remember the boy from all those winters ago. The boy who said funny little things about the moon, and made snowflakes for her, danced in the snow with her. The boy who played with her.

She missed him.

Not once did she think that maybe he wasn't real, but that's what children are like. You believe in everything when you're younger. Only the members of staff had ever asked her about him.

" _Princess Elsa, don't you want to come inside, instead of playing on your own in the snow?" A kind maid had asked as Elsa ran outside into the garden._

" _It's okay, Jack's with me!" She pointed to the boy besides her._

" _...princess, there's nobody there." The maid said, confused._

" _She probably has an imaginary friend, dear." One other maid said with a smile._

" _What? Jack's real! He's right here!" She looked at Jack, and he just shrugged, almost apologetically._

" _Of course he is, your majesty."_

 _After they walked off, she tugged on Jack's hoodie, "Why didn't you say anything?"_

" _Elsa, they can't see me," he smiled, though there was sadness in his bright blue eyes, "they don't believe I'm real. Only people who believe in me can see me."_

" _Oh..."_

So from that day on, it felt like Jack was Elsa's little secret, along with her powers. And her little secret had kept his word. He taught her about her magic, and how to use it. It was never ever boring, either. They would play games all the time, while he showed her how to create different things with her magic. He made her laugh when she was sad, calmed her when her powers grew, and was there for her. Throughout the winter and even spring, he had visited her nearly every day and night.

Jack had also helped keep the bad dreams away. Since Elsa had accidently hurt Anna, she would be haunted by nightmares. Nightmares where the snow didn't stop, where her parents couldn't get to her, where Anna didn't wake up. But Jack had stopped them. He would sit by her bed and tell her stories about dragons and witches, and yetis that made toys for all the children in the world. Those stories always made her laugh.

Or he would simply sit there, and wait until she fell asleep. _"Those nightmares will have to get through me before they get to you."_ He would say, and she never remembered having a nightmare when he stayed with her. She would instead dream of sandcastles and fairies, and flying. Elsa always wanted to learn how to fly.

It wasn't until late spring that he left her.

 _They were in the woods, and the entire kingdom had a blanket of beautiful white snowing covering it. The sky was completely white and almost glowing in its brightness._

" _What are we gonna learn today, Jack?" she asked._

" _Actually," he turned to her, "I was thinking that instead we could do something more fun. Let's just play games today, okay?"_

 _She liked that idea a lot. So, without warning she had thrown a snowball at him, hitting him square in the face. "Hey!" he laughed._

 _Elsa giggled and quickly ducked behind a tree as a wave of fresh snow was lifted up and thrown her way. She ran from out of the safety of the tree to throw another one at him, but he was nowhere to be seen._

 _She stood there, baffled, until she felt a pile of snow get plopped onto her. She dug herself out, to hear the sound of his joyous, even triumphant, laughter. Elsa looked up and saw him sitting on a branch in the tree. "No fair, Jack!" She shouted, but she was laughing too._

" _Okay, okay," he flew down in front of her, "Fine. No flying. That's a rule."_

" _You still haven't taught me to fly, yet, anyway." She pouted._

 _He said nothing to that, and simply took hold of her hand, "Let's go sledging."_

 _They slid down a hill of icy snow on her sledge. He always carried her back up, and a couple of times pushed her down it without warning. She could always hear his laughter over her screams, as he flew down with her to make sure she didn't fall off._

 _Whenever she tried to make a snow angel, he would instantly fill the gaps with more snow, making it impossible. "Stop it, Jack! You're messing it up!"_

" _Well, where's the fun in not messing it up?"_

" _Why don't you make a snow angel yourself?"_

" _Fine, I will!" And he got down into the snow as she quickly hurried off, a devious plan in mind._

 _Just as Jack had made a first imprint in the snow, Elsa tipped an enormous pile of snow onto him. She could just about hear his muffled protests as he dug himself out, and she laughed herself into stitches._

 _Then, they played hide-and-seek, though Jack always found her no matter how sneaky she tried to be with her hiding places._

 _Then, before they went back, Jack said to her with a grin, "do you want to go flying?"_

 _Smiling, Elsa nodded so hard her hat nearly fell off. Jack turned around and crouched, "Get on my back." She climbed onto him, and he held her legs, "hold on tightly!"_

 _He zoomed off into the darkening sky, and she kept her arms around his neck, holding on as tightly as she could without strangling Jack. They headed into the sky, so high into the clouds that the kingdom appeared to be nothing more than a pinprick. The height was frightening, and Elsa tightened her grip on him._

" _It's okay," Jack reassured her, "I won't drop you."_

" _How do I know you won't for a prank?" She said. Any prank like this wouldn't be funny in the least._

" _Just trust me, Elsa." He said seriously. She trusted him._

 _The sky was so beautiful. They were just above the clouds, and the sunset was a glorious mixture of reds and oranges and purples and pinks. It spread across the sky and blended like watercolour paint._

" _You know," Jack said to her, "this is around the time that dragons usually go flying."_

" _Really?!" Elsa asked, excitedly._

" _Yep! I've seen them! If you keep your eye out, you just might see one!"_

 _She kept a look-out for anything that might look like a dragon in the slightest. After a while, Elsa asked, "Jack, are there any dragon riders?"_

" _Oh yeah, there are loads. You wouldn't believe how many there are out there."_

" _...do you think I could become one?"_

" _Without a doubt." He looked back to her and smiled. She smiled back, imagining what it would be like to ride a large, scaly, fire-breathing dragon..._

" _And here we are, your majesty," Jack landed on the window sill, carefully picking her up and lowering her into her bedroom._

 _She ran around into her room, but when she turned back, he was standing by the wall._

" _Jack, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned._

 _He looked at her, sad. Then, he walked slowly over to her, before kneeling in front of her. "Elsa," he took her tiny fragile hands in his, encasing them in his long, slender fingers, "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to go away for a while."_

" _What...? Why?" she asked._

" _Do you remember when I told you I'm a Guardian? That I protect children?"_

" _Yes...?"_

" _Well, right now the other Guardians need me. Other children need me right now."_

" _B-but..." she stuttered, on the verge of tears. "But I need you, too!"_

" _I know you do, Elsa. But right now there are a lot of bad things happening, and I have to help them. It's my duty to help them right now."_

 _She looked at him, and he looked as sad as she felt. Against her will, she began to cry. "Will you come back, once it's over?"_

 _He cupped her little face in his hands, and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "Yeah, of course I will."_

" _And when you come back, we'll play hide-and-seek, and make snowflakes, and you'll teach me how to fly..."_

" _Yes, Elsa, all those things." He smiled reassuringly, "I'll be back before you even know it. And we'll do all those things."_

 _She sniffled. "Promise?"_

 _He held out his pinkie finger, and she wrapped her own around it. "Pinkie promise."_

 _Then, Elsa wrapped her arms around his neck, and he enveloped her in his arms. Elsa buried her face in the crook of his pale neck, and had never felt safer. She wanted to stay like that forever. She didn't want him to go. She wanted him to stay there, hugging her, stroking her hair, telling her she'll be okay._

 _Slowly, and very reluctantly, he pulled away from her. With his hands holding her shoulders and eyes glistening slightly, he grinned. "Just remember what I taught you about your magic. Okay, Princess?"_

" _I'll remember, Jack."_

" _And...Remember me, okay?"_

" _I'll always remember you, Jack. I promise."_

 _He smiled, and picked his staff up off the floor. He turned away from her, before opening the window, and taking off into the dark sky. Elsa ran over to the window, and watched Jack fly away until she couldn't see him. "Goodbye, Jack." She whispered to the wind._

 _Then Elsa closed the window, and sat by the side of the bed – where Jack used to sit – and cried for the rest of the night._

Elsa hadn't noticed she had actually started crying.

It wasn't until a choked sob escaped from her that she snapped back to reality at all. She held her hand up to her face, and looked as the clear tear trickled down her finger. It dropped silently onto the ground. She sniffled, "You didn't come back." She whispered, before walking inside and closing the doors to the balcony behind her.

She didn't believe in fairy tales, yet she had never truly stopped believing in Jack Frost. To her...maybe he was real. She stood in front of the doors she had shut, and realised that if he really had been real, then that just made it worse. But had he really abandoned her? Had he really just been far too busy?

Whatever the reason, Elsa felt alone. She stood there, and snow began to fall from the ceiling. She began to cry.

"Please don't cry," she heard someone whisper. She whipped her head around, yet nobody was in the room.

She turned back to the door, to see that it had been covered with a sheet of ice. She was frozen to the spot as she watched a line go through the ice. A snowflake was drawn, and it peeled off the ice, before it floated above her head.

Elsa looked at the ice door, and smiled when she saw a familiar face behind her in the reflection.

"Pinkie promise." Jack said.

. . .

 **The End**


End file.
